As a household name among the scholars of Dazhen, Yin Zhaoxian has now reached a time when he needs to pay extreme attention to his image. After Yu Wanzhou took office and got to know him for a period of time, he realized that he could not show certain emotions casually.
Even in front of his wife, Yin Zhaoxian could not show his depression too obviously, for fear that his wife would worry too much. But in front of Ji Yuan, he had no such concerns and it was a rare opportunity for him to vent his emotions.
"Phew... I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Mr. Ji!"
Yin Zhaoxian seemed a little agitated at this moment. It seemed that he had suffered a lot in the officialdom. Even a calm person like him was like this. Of course, it might also be that he had accumulated too much anger for a long time, so he was a little agitated when he vented it.
Ji Yuan held the teacup but did not drink it. He just blew gently on the tea in the cup. In fact, the breeze also stirred the air in the room, dispersing some of the depression in his friend and making him calm down a lot.
"Master Yin, it seems that this wealthy place of Wanzhou is not as good as other places imagine?"
Hearing that Mr. Ji finally called him "Master Yin" again, Yin Zhaoxian felt better for some reason and then sighed.
"Ah... Mr. Ji, you don't know that Wanzhou is indeed a rich place, but some people are rich and wealthy while others are hungry. The former are few and the latter are many. It's simply sick! Can you imagine a small village head..."
As Yin Zhaoxian spoke, he stretched out his right hand, pinched the tip of his little finger, and gestured towards Ji Yuan with his hands almost shaking.
"Such a petty official, who is not very important, actually owns 50 hectares of mulberry fields. How did he get these fields? How could he have so much land after being a village head for his whole life?"
Yin Zhaoxian took a deep breath, picked up the teacup and took a sip, then added.
"What's even more infuriating is that among these fifty hectares of land, there are at least a thousand acres of permanent farmland, which is the lifeblood of the people!"
Ji Yuan frowned. Now that he thought about it, the Wanzhou area he passed by when he was riding on the cloud did have more mulberry trees than grain fields. It didn't look like everyone was growing mulberry trees and raising silkworms together to get rich, but rather, the people's fields had been annexed
Perhaps in the beginning, the farmers were tempted with the benefits of growing mulberry trees and raising silkworms, and then after they suffered losses due to various natural disasters or man-made disasters, the farmers bought back the mulberry fields at a seemingly "fair" price. Now, there are more mulberry trees than fields, and this industry is controlled by the rich and powerful while the common people have no access to it.
To see the big picture from the small, in Lishun Prefecture and even the entire Wanzhou, many farmers and common people have very little land that they actually own. If they want to have enough food, most of the time they have no choice but to rely on landlords. Farming is not so bad, as it does not require that many people to grow mulberry trees and raise silkworms. Most of the profits that farmers can get go to the wealthy families. In addition, they have to bear taxes themselves, so their lives are very difficult.
What's more crucial is that the only reward that farmers get for helping the wealthy families to raise silkworms and make silk is money. When there is not enough grain in Wanzhou, they have to buy it from other places, and buying grain requires going through many merchants who profit from exploitation. Price fluctuations are not determined by farmers. Who has the final say on grain price fluctuations? It is naturally linked to natural disasters, but it is also decided by wealthy merchants and officials from wealthy families.
What to do when you don’t have enough money? Mortgage your land for the next year!
After listening to Yin Zhaoxian's analysis, even Ji Yuan, who was considered an "immortal" by ordinary people, could not help but feel a chill down his spine. Over the years, the farmers in Wanzhou had their land, which they depended on for survival, eaten away bit by bit, just like the silkworms in Wanzhou gnawing on mulberry leaves...
Yin Zhaoxian drank up the tea in the cup and then made a cold and sarcastic remark.
"Everyone in our Dazhen says: Bingzhou's grain and Wanzhou's silk, huh, huh, but how can the situation of the people in Wanzhou be compared with that of Bingzhou?"
Ji Yuan couldn't help but nodded. He had stayed in Bingzhou for quite some time. Although he practiced in Yunshan most of the time, he had heard a lot of laughter from the busy farmers during the rice harvest season in Bingzhou.
"So Master Yin is taking action there?"
Yin Zhaoxian shook his head.
"If I could really strike at everyone I see, why would I be so depressed? In the past two years since I came to Wanzhou, I first carefully observed the people's sentiments without showing any attitude. As I got to know Lishun Prefecture and Wanzhou better and better, I also understood more and more that this was a matter of one hair moving the whole body. Although it was just one hair for me, I couldn't touch him easily!"
Although Ji Yuan did not understand officialdom, his friend's words were enough to show that Master Yin had a thorough understanding of officialdom and was by no means a fool in it. He also put aside some of his worries.
"Master Yin is the prefect and has connections in the court, but why is he so wary?"
As Ji Yuan spoke, he picked up the teapot and refilled his friend's tea, just like the afternoons when they chatted with each other in the Ju'an Pavilion.
Yin Zhaoxian has calmed down now. Like Ji Yuan, he doesn't feel awkward at all. He picks up the tea and drinks it.
"Although the imperial court's inspectors have said that Wanzhou is fine over the years, this alone is not enough. I'm afraid there are deep-rooted interests involved in the court. Lishun Prefecture and the entire Wanzhou are of great concern!"
Yin Zhaoxian's speech at this moment was completely like that of a veteran official who had been in the officialdom for a long time, rather than a rookie official who had been promoted from the top scholar position a few years ago.
Although Ji Yuan felt bad for the people of Wanzhou, after a conversation, he was not too worried about his friend, so he asked again as if jokingly, but there was no teasing tone in his voice.
"Then Master Yin was sent to Wanzhou. Wouldn't the interest groups here regard you as a thorn in their side?"
"I'm not a thorn in my side, but I'm wary of him. Especially when Yin first took office, I was on guard day and night. Haha, now that I think about it, it's really ridiculous!"
Yin Zhaoxian changed the subject at this point.
"However, although Yin came to observe the people's sentiments carefully, he did not make any unnecessary moves. He looked like he was only minding his own business, which made them relax. Now, the officials of Lishun Prefecture and even Wanzhou all think that Yin, who won the top three places in the imperial examination, is very talented and was sent to Wanzhou to gild his reputation. Sooner or later, he will be promoted to the capital. They don't want anything to happen during his term, so he is a stable person!"
"It's ironic that since then, more and more people have come to give gifts to Yin, and their positions have become higher and higher, from small families to wealthy families."
"Oh? They're all very valuable gifts?"
Ji Yuan reached out and touched the teapot, making the tea return to the right temperature, and refilled a cup for himself and his friend.
"It's very valuable. Or rather, most of it is actually money! The white silver and the shining gold. After all, everyone is optimistic about my future promotion. Who knows, I might become a new supporter in the future court."
Yin Zhaoxian smiled and said something to Jiyuan in a joking manner.
"I accept all these gifts!"
When Ji Yuan heard this, he didn't show it on the surface, but he was stunned in his heart. However, he realized something immediately. He still had confidence in his friend's character. This confidence came from his understanding of Master Yin, and also from the pure and righteous spirit that Master Yin embodied at this moment.
"What? Master Yin plans to use courtesy first and then use force to settle the score later?"
"My parents gave me life, and my fate is my understanding! I remember every gift clearly, one by one, one by one!"
It was a rare occasion for Yin Zhaoxian to act mysterious in front of his good friends.
"If we were to say who in the entire Dazhen government and the public hates this matter the most, besides me, Yin Zhaoxian, it would have to be the current emperor."
Ji Yuan looked at Yin Zhaoxian, shook his head and sighed.
"As far as I know, the old emperor is obsessed with the auspicious sign and is now preparing a water and land ceremony to summon various 'famous scholars' from Dazhen to participate. It's hard to say how much of his attention is on Wanzhou."
Apart from frowning, Yin Zhaoxian did not have any special expression, and he would not say that his friend's tone was disrespectful.
Ji Yuan smiled and continued leisurely.
"He is the key to the fate of Dazhen, and he is respected above all others. He can prolong his life, but if he wants to seek immortality, he must give up his position. It is impossible for him to do both."
Yin Zhaoxian did not dwell on this issue.
"Your Majesty may not be young and strong anymore, but he will not remain indifferent to the affairs of Wanzhou. Moreover, there is also the ambitious Prince Jin involved in this matter. Half a year ago, I had secretly reported this to His Majesty through His Royal Highness Prince Jin. I didn't say much, but just informed him of the hush money that the gift-givers gave me. Mr. Ji, you can guess how much it is."
Seeing Master Yin like this, Ji Yuan thought to himself that he might as well guess higher, so he spoke.
"Fifty thousand taels of silver?"
Yin Zhaoxian shook his head.
"No, no!"
"One hundred thousand taels?"
Seeing that Master Yin was still shaking his head, Ji Yuan spoke next.
"Fifty thousand ounces of gold?"
"Mr. Ji, I guess again, some of the things Yin got were yellow and white, and some were rare and antique."
Ji Yuan grinned, counted with his right hand hidden in his sleeve, and then spoke with a hint of surprise.
"There are actually 210,000 taels of gold!?"
This precise data made Yin Zhaoxian stunned, and then he nodded in answer.
"Yes, after a few years, if you count all the treasures, it should be worth about two million taels of silver. Hehe, it's almost equal to the annual tax that Wanzhou pays to the national treasury in half a year!"
"I am the prefect of Lishun Prefecture. Although I have some prospects, I have received so many benefits during my two-year term. How much money have they taken from the people and the court? How can the emperor not be angry?"
Yin Zhaoxian sneered when he said this.
"It's all said in the secret letter sent by the Prince of Jin. After receiving my secret report, His Majesty smashed his favorite set of teacups in the Imperial Study!"
He became incompetent and foolish in his old age. Although many emperors in history were like this, Emperor Yuande did not think he would be one of them. Now he found himself being deceived by those below him, and his anger can be imagined.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan knew that his friend had already made a plan in mind, and he felt half relieved and half emotional.
"Master Yin is no longer a child of the officialdom!"